Season 10 “American Idol” winner and Garner native Scotty McCreery is constantly using his voice to record new songs, perform old ones and meet and greet fans.

And on Tuesday, March 29, McCreery talked to about 400 Triangle residents about how he takes care of his most important instrument as part of Duke Voice Care Center’s 10th World Voice Day celebration at the Cary Arts Center on Dry Avenue.

This annual celebration of the voice, which usually takes place on April 16, aims to demonstrate the importance of the voice in our daily lives, particularly for singers, teachers, actors and others who rely on their voice for their careers.

McCreery also gave a brief acoustic performance demonstrating his deep baritone sound, performing favorites such as “See You Tonight” and even a portion of “Your Man” by country artist Josh Turner – the song that helped him advance in “American Idol.”

“I’m in an industry where people don’t think about vocal health until it’s too late,” McCreery said Tuesday. “By then you’ve got to cancel a tour or push back a record.”

McCreery said he has never had to do either, because he takes care of his voice with the help of Duke Voice Care Center.

Throughout the event, Duke Voice Care Center representatives offered tips and strategies to the audience about how to keep their voices healthy, like setting aside time to rest their voices, as well as teaching them about how the voice works. Audience members also were able to submit questions to McCreery about his best voice health practices.

“There are months out of the year where I’ll have four shows a month. There are months out of the year where I’ll have 20-plus shows a month,” he said. “We’ll go every night singing. It’s not just singing. It’s interviews. It’s meet-and-greets. It’s everything going on.”

McCreery stressed voice rest, warming up before a show, utilizing proper technique and recognizing when you are straining your voice.

Even though Tuesday’s event was Duke Voice Care Center’s largest education outreach program, the organization raises awareness about voice health all year.

“By the time we see people, they have an injury so our goal is to come out in the community and let them know what to do to prevent an injury,” said Leda Scearce, director of performing voice programs and development. “Many of those injuries could be prevented if they knew about vocal health and the anatomy.”